Activating Public Sector Ethics in Transitional Societies
In this paper Stevulak and Brown seek to demonstrate that an integrity-based approach holds the promise of fighting effectively against corruption and recalibrating the relationship between citizens and government in transitional societies. The authors explore compliance-based measures used by the former Soviet Union (FSU) countries when developing ethical public services and the reasons why these measures have shown considerable limitations. As the authors mention, all of the eight FSU countries referenced in their study have continued to witness rampant corruption despite the enforcement of such measures. The inevitable conclusion here is that the potential of the compliance regimes has been reached and that although they are essential in activating ethics, they have proven insufficient. Compliance approaches can enforce certain types of behavior, but they cannot generate the willingness of public servants to do the right thing. This conclusion brings the focus back onto integrity-based approaches and back to the individual.
The contribution of the article lies in the details it provides of an integrity-based approach as a complement to the compliance-based approaches. The authors describe the essential components of the integrity-based approach and illustrate their assessments through specific FSU cases. According to the authors, the most obvious component of an integrity-based approach is leadership (and good moral leadership), which must play a decisive role in the search for integrity in public service. As Stevulak and Brown asses, the leaders can trigger big changes through small daily routine actions: honest references to the reality of ethical dilemmas in their workplace and their example in doing the right thing can constitute one of the most effective ways of building good character in the battle against corruption. Moreover, integrity-based approaches appear to be more suited in a public service where there already exists a strong sense of values and high homogeneity in the society. There needs to exist as well strong group cohesion, commonly referred to as the “fellowship of the profession”.
The authors conclude that integrity-based approaches hold the key to a more ethical public service and a better fight against corruption, however, implementing it in practice can be very challenging.
Citation: C. Stevulak & M. P. Brown, "Activating Public Sector Ethics in Transitional Societies", Public Integrity, 13(2): 97-112, 2011.
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